This invention relates to a hand tool for loading semiconductor chip carriers into sockets for connection to electronic circuitry. One well known type of housing or carrier for a semiconductor chip of the type commonly employed in electronic circuitry is comprised of a rectangularly shaped body of insulating material that encloses the semiconductor chip. A plurality of leads, terminals, or contacts that are connected to the chip and its circuitry extend outwardly from the sides of the carrier body and then extend downwardly and bend around the bottom edge of the rectangular body. The leads terminate on or adjacent the bottom surface of the body. It is common practice to subject the semiconductor chips that are packaged or housed in the rectangular carriers to a test or "burn in" to be sure that they meet certain standards prior to inserting them into a circuit board of an electronic device or component. Unless there is an extremely high volume of chip carriers involved, the use of automatic insertion apparatus for inserting the carriers into burn-in sockets cannot be justified. When the automatic insertion apparatus is not employed, the chip carriers are inserted into their burn-in sockets by hand. Many of the chip carriers are small compared to human finger tips and their handling by a human operator is troublesome and time consuming. Furthermore, because of their small size and the small size of the burn-in socket, it is difficult for the operator to always get the carrier properly aligned into the socket. The carrier may get cocked and wedged in the socket and its leads will not make proper contact with the leads in the socket. Because of the small sizes of the carriers, it often is difficult to retrieve the misaligned carrier from the socket and reinsert it properly into the socket. These difficulties are time consuming, lead to frustration of the operator, and increase the possibility that the chip in the carrier will not be subjected to a proper burn-in procedure.